Page 49 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 123

www.sportsenergynews.com Issue #123 April 2023 49

Continued from page 47 athletes.” year. Most of my ‘free’ time is “Now I play tennis during the
Her volunteering doesn’t end spent at a practice, a game, or a winter months at the Tim Dome
Tamara has been heavily involved
in her children’s sports. “Aside there. “Over the last couple of tournament.” in Alexandria, and I play softball
years, I have also been an executive Tamara is a senior English teacher in the spring and summer. Before
Game of Drones from being a glorified taxi member of the Glengarry Gaels at a high school in Montreal and is COVID, I played flag football,
service,” she laughs, “I have been
the team manager for Andrew’s Football Club, and have been in currently the acting vice-principal which I hope to return to soon,
charge of organizing both our for grade 7 and 8 students. She has and I even started practicing
football team every year since
he started playing. I love being flag football seasons and our an extensive athletic background. with the Capital Rebels Women’s
involved in that way and seeing high school football season at “As a kid I played inter-city Tackle Football Team in Ottawa.
Glengarry District High School, softball, did gymnastics, swam, Turns out I may be too old and
the different side of the sport, and
the different side of the young which started up again this and played water polo,” she says. breakable to play at my age!”

KARATE KOMMENTS is mesh panels in the underarms and back, to maximize airflow. The

16 oz. canvas gi’s are built to last for years and are often the gi of
choice due to their sharp appearance. They are also favoured by
By Jim Riddell, senior students and black belts for tournament kata and grading’s,

Seaway Karate Club for the snapping sound they produce while executing technique. So,
what does the actual gi weight refer to? Shouldn’t a 12 oz., size 6
gi, weigh more than a smaller 12 oz. size 4 gi? The gi size does not

matter as the weight refers to the number of ounces in one square
The Weight of your Karate Gi yard of the material that is used to make the gi. Where things get a bit

n a previous Karate Komments column I had mentioned that complicated is if the gi comes in more than one colour. The weight
Iwhen Gichin Funakoshi had come to Japan from Okinawa in given is the average weight across the various colour’s. Most karate
1922 to demonstrate Karate at the Kodakan in Tokyo, he wore a gi’s are available in white, black, red, and blue. More dye is needed

Judogi presented to him by Jigaro Kano, the founder of Judo. There for darker colours than lighter ones, making the weight of a square
are many old photos of karate practitioners in Okinawa training in yard heavier. For example, one square yard of black material may
short pants that looked a lot like underwear, either going shirtless weigh 12 .5 oz., with one sq. yd. of white weighing in at 11.5 oz.,
FPO
or wearing a T-shirt. The culture of Japan was much more formal with red and blue falling somewhere in between the two. The weight
than in Okinawa, so the wearing of a gi was necessary for the sport given is the average across the various colour’s. If you happen to
to gain acceptance in that country. Funakoshi remained in Japan to be looking at a gi where the manufacturer uses the metric system,
teach and the gi became a part of karate from that point forward. the weight will be given as GSM or grams per square meter. For a FPO
The material weight for karate gi’s became lighter than those used quick conversion to ounces, multiply the number of grams by .04
in judo, as karate was mainly a striking art with little grappling or use an online converter for a more precise conversion. I recently

involved that would require a more robust uniform. Today when a inquired about gi colour popularity at the Martial Artist in Orleans.
student joins a karate school, their first gi is most often a standard The Martial Artist has been the largest supplier of gi’s and martial
student uniform, usually constructed of 6 or 8 oz. cotton/polyester arts equipment in our region for many years. Traditional white is
material for enhanced strength. They are comfortable, light weight, still the most popular, accounting for around 70% of student uniform
low maintenance garments that dry quickly with few wrinkles sales, followed by black at 20 %, with red and blue making up the
after laundering. They will last a year or two under normal use, final 10%. Things change with the Heavyweight gi’s as only 50%
and by that time students often want to upgrade to a heavier gi. are white, 35% are black, with red, blue, and custom gi’s making

Middleweight gi’s are in the eight-to-ten-ounce range and will up the final 15%. The world’s fashion industry keeps our clothing
sometimes have an extra row of stitching plus some additional in a constant state of change, but in karate, function and tradition
reinforcement. Heavyweight gi’s are 12-14 oz. and may come with prevail. The gi’s that we wear today are of the same design as the
two-inch lapels, extra stitching, and an additional layer of material one that Jigaro Kano presented to Gichin Funakoshi at the Kodakan
reinforcing the underarms and the back of the shoulders. The venting in Tokyo back in 1922.